Down, down, down.

So three of our four Christmas trees are down. The nutcrackers and Granny decorations are down. Our (ridiculously) simple front-door lighted garland is down.

And I am down.

There are people who love their homes' clean look once the Christmas stuff is gone. I am not one of those people. This year, because we're still so new to our house, the cleared-out look just makes our home seem empty. And my need to paint? More evident than ever!

So yeah, I'm a little on the melancholy side tonight. Surely that has nothing to do with going back to work in the morning, right?

(sigh)

An attitude adjustment is in order! After all, I'm only working three days this week, and then I'm off to LA for the big game! Tomorrow and Tuesday I'll be packing for the trip that we booked back in October. Yep, it's time to count my blessings, and although they're innumerable, I'll start by counting to three. Three days. I can handle THREE DAYS!

Wii wish you a merry Christmas.

Another of our Christmas traditions is to get together with our friend Dede and exchange gifts.

After lunch at Cheddar's, we came back to our house so the kids could play Wii and we could have a little more Christmas fun.

Dede and Cole gave Ryan a Beatles throw and Katie a Texas frame.

I got a gift card for a store that sells college merchandise—wonder which school's stuff I'll buy?—and Brett got a KISS throw. It was funny because just yesterday Brett was wearing a Destroyer shirt!

We gave Terry a bunch of Mason jars, but that's really a selfish gift since we know he'll eventually fill them with his amazing hot sauce.
We gave Dede and picture frame and an iTunes card (since she just got an iPhone), but her real present is still on its way from Walgreens. (Dangit, Walgreens! WOULD YOU JUST SEND ME MY ORDER?!)
And Cole? Cole got a Lego Batman game for the Wii.

We think he likes it!

A walk in the park.

After lunch the sidewalks were mostly dry, so Brett, Katie and I headed to our neighborhood trails. It was still pretty chilly, but the sun and the exercise kept us warm.

White Christmas.

I must confess: When we awoke on Christmas Day to see a blanket of snow still on the ground, I wasn't impressed. Having a "white Christmas" is overrated, I decided. Granted, I was still devastated by the loss of our friend, and I was disappointed that the weather had canceled our church's Christmas Eve service. Plus, my brother-in-law was stuck in Oklahoma, and my sister-in-law wasn't able to drive to Ranger for their Christmas celebration. All that equals one pooty See-Dub. Bah humbug.

But then Tim's wife updated her Facebook status and pointed out that Tim "is in Heaven celebrating with the angels and our Lord and Savior on this beautiful white Christmas morning!" Well, crap. If Amy can see the beauty in this snow, surely I can!






Yes, that would be my son playing in the snow in SHORTS.





Yes, indeedy, that's my daughter in SHIRT SLEEVES! Our kids don't get cold! Rolling all those snow balls helped 'em work up a sweat, too.




In spite of my bad attitude, I have to admit: It was a gorgeous day! Plus, because of the change in plans, Kelly and Chris joined us for Christmas dinner. That was a nice treat.

I even pulled out our wedding china and stainless. As Ryan would say, we had to get all "fancy pants"!

The food was delish, and the company was wonderful. Best of all, while Kelly and Chris were still here, Mike showed up at our door!

Christmas 2009.

It's Christmas morning!

Ryan and Katie (and ChaCha!) first checked out our stockings. They were a little confused since their big Santa presents weren't there or under our big tree.

Found 'em! Santa brought Ryan a game console and Katie an iPod Touch.

"REALLY?!" Ryan was a little surprised to see an XBox 360 under the tree. He thought he was just going to get money to help him buy one.

Brett didn't know what to think of the pooping cow candy dispenser Santa left in his stocking.

Santa didn't leave out ChaCha and Frisco, but they didn't get the candy dispensers. With those two, poop is no laughing matter.

I think the kids like their presents.

Among our gifts were...the New Moon soundtrack,

a Texas glass globe ornament,

a sweet letter and $5,

a Beatles calendar,

Atari boxers,

a picture of our family,

and a belly rub.

I was taking pictures (duh), but I was blessed to receive gift cards that Brett and I can use for dates (!!!!), a Sandra Boynton Mom calendar (that I can't live without), and the special edition West Side Story DVD set. I love them all!

While Katie started adding apps to her iTouch, Ryan wasted no time setting up his 360. Ever the stickler, ChaCha helped by following the box's directions:

Good kitty!

A different kind of Christmas Eve.

Who would've imagined we would have a white Christmas?
It was unbelievable, really. The snow just kept coming. We were thankful to be safe and warm at home.
We were also thankful that Memaw came over earlier that afternoon before the roads got so bad. The Heritage Christmas Eve service was called off because of the weather. It was a wise decision, but it was really hard to accept. Because of a friend's accident, we needed to be with our church family more than ever. A ton of work had gone into planning the service, too, and it was a shame that we'll have to wait a year before we get to celebrate it. But compared to the other events of that day, missing out on that service was just a disappointment.

We spent most of the afternoon of Dec. 24 at the hospital, praying along with hundreds of other friends for our friend Tim. When we first heard of his accident, we canceled our annual Christmas Eve family dinner. We later changed our mind, knowing we needed our family near us as we grieved. We got word that Tim had died about five minutes before our guests came over.

Brett made chili, and I made a sopapilla cheesecake. I didn't get to clean house or take care of all the other chores I wanted to before our company arrived; my heart just wasn't in it. Still, it was great to have Nana, Papa, Kelly, Chris and Memaw over for dinner!

Our guests (except for Memaw) had to eat and run because the roads were getting icy, but we knew the weather wouldn't keep Santa from visiting!
Surely Santa's an Oreo man!
We were in shock and in mourning, but we were ready—and thankful—for Christmas.